1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of wave-dampened watermattresses. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a watermattress wherein the sleeping surface comprises a number of elongated tubes which have wave-dampening and lumbar supporting inserts.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Water mattresses have been known in the prior art for a long time various devices and means have been used in the prior art to dampen the wave action in watermattresses. For example U.S. Pat. No 4,301,560 describes the use of lofted polyester fiber as a wave dampening insert in a watermattress. U.S. Pat. No 4,411,033 describes the use of buoyant floating polyurethane foam inserts as a wave-dampener in a watermattress U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,356 and other patent references cited in this patent, describe the use of wave-dampening baffles in watermattresses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,013 describes the use of elongated water-filled tubes in a watermattress having a soft-sided (foam) frame of specific construction When the waterfilled tubes are disposed "head-to-toe" in the watermattress they substantially prevent propagation of wave motion in a side-to-side direction. Inserts (such as foam or fiber) have also been used in the prior art within the elongated tubes to dampen the propagation of wave motion in the longitudinal direction.
Many persons find it desirable to have extra support or firmness disposed below their lower back and hip area when sleeping or resting on a watermattress. Although some, watermattresses of the prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,386 provide some extra firmness and "lumbar support" in the mid-section of the mattress, such lumbar support has not been available in tube-type watermattresses of the prior art.
The present invention accomplishes wave dampening in a tube-type watermattress and provides extra support or firmness in the area where most persons desire lumbar support.